Book Description

The author of the popular Green Witchcraft series presents her personal Book of Shadows, designed for you to use just as she uses it-as a working guide to ritual, spells, and divination. This ready-made, authentic grimoire is based on family tradition and actual magical experience, and is easily adaptable to any tradition of Witchcraft.

Grimoire for the Green Witch offers a treasury of magical information- rituals for Esbats and Sabbats, correspondences, circle-casting techniques, sigils, symbols, recitations, spells, teas, oils, baths, and divinations. Every aspect of Craft practice is addressed, from the purely magical to the personally spiritual. It is a distillation of Green practice, with room for growth and new inspiration.

The author of the popular Green Witchcraft series presents her personal Book of Shadows, designed for you to use just as she uses it-as a working guide to ritual, spells, and divination. This ready-made, authentic grimoire is based on family tradition and actual magical experience, and is easily adaptable to any tradition of Witchcraft.

Grimoire for the Green Witch offers a treasury of magical information- rituals for Esbats and Sabbats, correspondences, circle-casting techniques, sigils, symbols, recitations, spells, teas, oils, baths, and divinations. Every aspect of Craft practice is addressed, from the purely magical to the personally spiritual. It is a distillation of Green practice, with room for growth and new inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ann Moura has been a practitioner of Green Witchcraft for over forty years. She holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in History. Maura lives in Florida where she runs her own metaphysical store, presents public rituals, and teaches classes on the Craft. Visit her online at www.annmourasgarden.com or at www.lunasolesoterica.com.

Creed of the Green Witch I Acknowledge the Unity of the Divine, symbolized by the Divine Androgyne, aspected as female and male, Goddess and God, form and energy, lunar and solar powers, honored during the Wheel of the Year at Esbats, Sabbats, and sacred days.

I Acknowledge the immanence of the Divine, whose Spirit resides in all things and worlds, creating a unity of All in Oneness and kinship through the Goddess and the God.

I Acknowledge that the Elementals Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are extensions of the Goddess and the God, both external and indwelling kith and kin, connecting all through Spirit. I Acknowledge the immortality of the individual spirit, comforted by the God in Underworld, refreshed by the Goddess in Summerland, choosing incarnation by form, place, and soul purpose.

I Acknowledge that the God lovingly demonstrates the life cycle in His yearly passage through the Sabbats. He is born as the Oak King of the Goddess as Mother at Yule; cleansed and carried by the Crone into the arms of the Mother at Imbolc to be nourished by the milk of Her love. At Ostara, the Goddess transforms as Maiden and joins the God that They may walk as the Lady and the Lord of the Wild Wood to awaken the Earth from the sleep of Herself as Crone of Winter. The God and Goddess unite at Beltane to bring renewal to the Earth, and at their Litha wedding, the God shows His face of wisdom and age, turning from Oak King to Holly King as He begets Himself of the Goddess. At Lughnassadh, the God enters into the Goddess aspected as Mother Earth, filling Her abundance with the life essence of His solar energy. He enriches the vines and barleycorn with the essence of His Spirit at Mabon. He enters into Underworld, leaving the Goddess alone as Mother-to-be and Crone through Autumn and Winter, while He leads the Wild Hunt as the Horned Hunter, gathering the dead to His realm. He rules Underworld as the Lord of Shadows, where He offers rest, solace, and release of burdens to spirits at the end of each incarnation. At Samhain, the God passes His Spirit through the Goddess, making thin the veil between the worlds by their union of shadow and light, turning the Tomb of the Crone into the Womb of the Mother. At Yule the God as Sage offers His blessing and farewell to the children of the world, then turns His face to join them as the Infant Oak King reborn. Through the Wheel of the Year is the path of perfect love and perfect trust in the Divine demonstrated, that we may walk with the Goddess and the God in the bond of love.

I Acknowledge the three great Mysteries: the Ancient God as Father and Son; the Maiden Goddess as Mother and Crone; and the Union of Tomb and Womb for the eternal cycle of Life Immortal.

The Sacred Tradition of Green Witchcraft The Green Tradition of Witchcraft sees the aspects of the Divine All as separate and united as Goddess, God, and Both. The One who is All matches all being from the One. The forms of The Lord and the Lady are interlinked and interchangeable: Father Sky and Mother Earth/Sky Goddess and Earth God; Sun and Moon; Triple Goddess and Wed to the Triple Goddess; Threefold God and Wed to the Threefold God; Lord and Lady of the Greenwood; Lord of Abundance and Lady of Plenty; Queen of the Stars and King of the Universe; Creator and Creatrix, Spirit and Matter; Life and Passage; and Cosmic Dancers of Energy and Matter.

The Creative Forces of Nature are revered, with the Goddess and the God symbolizing the Universal Materials and Energies from which comes all existence. The God and the Goddess are equal and omnipresent, for They are found throughout the Universe, the Earth, and all that dwell therein. Because it is the Spiral Dance of Rebirth that brings us back to the Source of our existence in the Goddess and the God, reincarnation and communication with spirits are accepted parts of the religion.

Knowledge is the gift of the Goddess and the God, learning through many lives on Earth and keeping close to Them. Magic is a natural means of working with natural energies to accomplish a goal, and this magic becomes part of natural life for the practicing Green Witch. Consciousness may be altered through visualization, meditation, ritual, music, and dance to better commune with the Divine and effect the magic. Through Dedication, the pathway to communication is constantly open, so altered states cease to be necessary for contact with the Divine in Nature, only inner stillness and balance.

Freedom of the individual and personal responsibility are key aspects of Green Witchcraft. The liturgy may be created as needed or desired, for the magic will naturally flow with the acceptance of oneness with the All and with self-responsibility in our living.

Immanence, interconnection, and community are three core principles of Witchcraft. Because the God and the Goddess are manifested in all life, all existence is connected to be one living cosmos. The focus is on the growth of the whole through care for the Earth, the environment, and each other. The mythology of the Lord and the Lady revolves around two themes in the Wheel of the Yearthat of Fertility and Passage of the Seasons; and that of the Divine Life Cycle of the God, often related in allegory to the changing of the seasons. Thus, the sacrificed god motif can be found in the Corn (Wheat) Cycle, wherein the God willingly gives His life-force into the crops at the time of marriage that humanity may be sustained, thus relating the Divine to life and Rites of Passage.

The Triple Goddess is the Maiden, Mother, and Crone (Matron), whose consort is the Horned God, the Creator, Destroyer (Hunter), and Lord of the Beasts. All Nature has both positive and negative aspects, and to be reborn, one must first die. The Goddess is seen as both life in Her form as Mother and as death in Her form as Crone, yet both are the same. Death is a natural passage to new life and is not feared or labeled as evil. With Nature there are both pleasant aspects and harsh aspects, but this is all part of the reality of the energy that flows in the Earth, the Universe, and the beings of the Earth. The transition of the spirit through incarnations is not feared, but understood and accepted as natural, for life is eternal, and all spirits are immortal.

Attuning to the God and the Goddess changes one foreversparks new hope for the individual and for the planet. Personal destiny is in the hands of the practitioner. The Dark Aspects of the God and the GoddessLord of Shadows and Croneas well as the Bright AspectsHorned God and Maiden/Motherare accepted. The Divine is both Creation and Destruction; Abundant Nature and Destructive Nature. Since all life is joined in the Dual Deity, the Two Who Are One, and to each other, life cannot be destroyed, only changed or moved into and out of the cauldron of life. The religion then is the worship or reverence of the Life Force represented in the Dual Deity as a Conscious Unity. This reverence may be expressed through ceremonies or rituals dedicated to cycles of fertility, of planting and harvest, and of solar and lunar phases. The Esbats are Rituals of the Full Moon, New (Dark) Moonstimes to receive learning from the Goddess. The Sabbats are composed of four solar festivals, called the Lesser Sabbats or the Quarters, and four agricultural festivals, called the Greater Sabbats or the Cross-Quarters. These are the main focus of ritual in the Green Tradition, along with Twelfth Night (Naming Day). The names by which the Lord and the Lady are addressed are not important, for They are One by whatever Names They are known, and They dwell within. They give life to be lived fully and with enjoyment, and we are reborn to learn until we are reunited with Them. Because people are of the Earth, She should be revered. The Green Witch knows of the connection of all things, the immortality of life, and draws upon the Power of the Divine directly, or through the Elementals of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, or such spirits, devas, and Other People as may be helpful. The Elementals are the Kith and Kin of the Green Witch, for body and strength are of Earth, breath and thought are of Air, energy and drive are of Fire, and emotions and vital fluids are of Water. In olden days, The People learned in the ways of the Old Religion were called Wiccevoiced in the Middle English speech as Weetchiemeaning Wise, and the use of that wisdom was called the Craft of the WiseWicceCraft, from whence comes the word Witchcraft. The Green Tradition of Witchcraft sees the Practice of the Craft as spirituality, and holds the word Witch as honorable and spiritual.

The Goddess & the God Because the Divine is One, the aspects of the Divine may interchange roles. Either the Lady or the Lord may represent the Sun, Moon, Grain, Harvest, Waters of Life, Universe, Sky, Earth, Life, Death, Passage, ...

This is an excellent compendium of basic (non-Gardnerian, non-trad) wiccan/ witch ritual, theology and symbology. I believe it will be especially helpful for solitary (that is, not aligned with a coven or other group) pagans who are further along their paths than absolute beginners - people who need access to well-organized, non-fluffy material to bolster their personal practice. It would probably be a bit overwhelming for beginners, but that's not a bad thing as there are already too many beginning pagan books and not enough intermediate and advanced.One of the most attractive qualities about Moura's writing is that she makes no extravagent claims of ancient lineage and she doesn't attempt to distort history to fit her version of the Craft; many Llewellyn books in the past have been rendered nearly useless by this tendency. The material is offered as neutrally as can be, and therefore it is easily adaptable for an individual's tastes and beliefs.Is it just me, or is the overall quality of pagan books going up recently? Kudos to Llewellyn for finally putting out a quality witchcraft reference!

This book has everything you can possibly need, whether you are a beginner or advanced practitioner, it is a true working BOS. It includes all of the standard holiday and ritual information and it is presented in a precise, non-fluff way. I particularly like the fact there are so many tables, planetary guides, sigils, runes etc. The type of info you can't seem to find anywhere else is all compiled neatly here with room to add on at the end of every chapter. She also added several tea recipes, I found to be rather charming. What this book isn't is a book of spells, if you are looking for one of those, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Let me start by saying that I like Ann Moura's books, for the most part. To each his/her own, of course. If you don't like her other writings, you may not like this one either. But if you DO like her other writings, then you will LOVE this book!It is extremely thorough, well written as a ritual and spell book, and NOT a teaching book at all. If you are looking for a teaching book, get "Green Witchcraft III." This is the compilation of all the rituals and magical work from her earlier books, all written out and put into one manual. They are easy to find, easy to follow, flow together very well, and she includes a ton of extra information so it is right at your fingertips. No more hunting around and thinking "Where did I read that??"Again, to each his own, but I think this is a wonderful grimoire.

I was drawn to this book simply for its spells having a Book of Shadows already on my shelf. But when I started to read I slowly began to realize how much more this book really is. Don't let the size fool you. It may seem small but this is one of the most extensive books I have ever read on the subject. Not only does it explain the basics that pretty much every Book of Shadows does (or should) go into, but it also explains intricate details for further knowledge that most have to gain from personal experience.

It starts with deity basics, explaining what green witchcraft is and its ethics (Ann Moura being a green witch along with much of her family for many generations) along with who (in a very general way) the Goddess and God are. She mostly leaves this open for slight interpretation since many different types of point of view of the subject exist along with names as she slightly goes into by explaining what she has been brought up to believe in her family. She also expresses the main (not necessarily most popular) types of green witchcraft. Then she goes into the Wheel of the Year, quite extensively.

A large amount is devoted to what the book claims to be, the BOS, explaining rituals, chants, and blessings done during the Sabbats (one of the longest and most extensive I've seen) and during spells, tools and how to make them, important rituals such as Drawing Down the Moon and consecrations, a large chapter for just meditation, a chapter of just things needed to make a spell and ritual work and what goes into making them (there are nineteen sections of this chapter mind you).

Only now FINALLY do we get to the spells chapter, which was mostly spells for basic living which I personally was happy with, having grown tired of the usual making your neighbor fall in love with you spells. Afterwards is a section on crafts which are used often in many books and spells. Next comes the chapter on most things herbs are used for like teas and baths. Then a chapter on all things divination associated such as how to read tea leafs and extended explanations of each and every tarot card. And finally what I thought to be most surprising was she actually put in a section on palm reading.

All and all, this book is wonderful and has literally everything you will ever need. I highly recommend it for all witches, green or gray, beginners or advanced. It's a marvelous read.Read more ›

This book is way better than Silver Ravenwolf's Grimoire.(Don't like her anyway)It's more down to earth.Ann Moura gives you the option to do spell at certain times of the day ie. morning,evening,noon,midnight if you feel frustrated with planetary hours.She also includes a sigil-o-matic wheel of letters you can connect to make your own sigils.There's tons of recipes for teas to help with colds, fevers, stomach sickness,